page_title: Battle of Inverurie (1308)
section_title: Blood feud
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Inverurie (1308) / Blood feud
caption_attribution_description: Bruce's Seat. Now situated by the new roundabout on the Oldmeldrum by-pass this stone was originally located on nearby Barra Hill. By repute it is the stone that the ill Robert the Bruce sat on as he directed the Battle of Barra in 1308.
context_page_description: The Battle of Inverurie, also known as the Battle of Barra, was fought in the north-east of Scotland in May 1308 according to Fordun. However, Barbour states clearly that it was fought at Christmas of 1307. Many current historians accept Fordun's date, but Barron and some others believe that Bower misinterpreted Fordun's notes. Though part of the wider Wars of Scottish Independence, it is more properly viewed as an episode in a brief but bitter civil war. The battle was a victory for the Scottish king Robert Bruce over his chief domestic enemy, John Comyn, 3rd Earl of Buchan. It was followed by the Harrying of Buchan, a violent act of destruction of property long remembered with bitterness in Buchan. The battlefield was added to the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland in 2011.
context_section_description: In February 1306, Robert Bruce and his supporters killed John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, also known as the Red Comyn. Comyn was a nephew of the former king John Balliol and had been a leading player in the wars against the English. His death automatically meant that his extensive network of family and associates would regard Bruce as an enemy. Chief among these was Comyn's cousin and namesake, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan. Edward I of England died in July 1307. His son, Edward II, preoccupied with political problems at home, left his Scottish allies unsupported at a critical time. Bruce acted quickly, on the assumption that the English were bound to return in strength for the campaigning season in 1308.
caption: Bruce's Seat, the stone from which King Robert is reputed to have directed the battle
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